In the port of Marseille, we embark on an adventure that has as its main objective to defeat the immense and difficult desert of Libya, driving more than 2000 kilometers off the asphalt, of which 800 are dunes. The route crosses two of the largest Ergs of the Sahara, the Abwari and Murzuq on routes of high difficulty, also visiting the Akakus and the Tassili N’Ajjer of Libya, the amazing plateau of Maghidet, culminating the odyssey in the great dunes of the Doudas Lakes, one of the most beautiful places in the world.
Does anyone give more?
After a peaceful sea crossing that begins in Marseille, we pass the Tunisian border without difficulty and head to the south of the country to spend the night in a hotel in Matmata.
Early in the morning and by road we reached the Tunisian border with Libya, part of our Libyan team was waiting for us to help us with the always complicated customs procedures, which this time took longer than expected.
After crossing the border, we arrived in Zwarah where some participants had some kebabs for dinner in a local restaurant and another part of the group decided to do it in the improvised camp about 50 kms south of that town.
First Stage: THE GREAT AWBARI ERG
After a night marked by excitement and the desire to reach the Abwari arena as soon as possible, the participants dismantled the camp quickly, we were 4 hours late and time was money.
We drive through Nalut, and arrive in Derj where we meet the rest of the Libyan relief team, eat and fill the tanks and jarricans to overflowing with fuel. After a few kilometers we start the track and the Erg Abwari.
On tracks or sailing off-road, following the waypoints, we arrive at Bir Gazelle and a beautiful canyon that culminates with a singular curiosity, the remains of a tree fossilized millions of years ago.
We camped a few kilometers from the planned place, a small cordon of dunes that under normal conditions we would have crossed, but for safety and to avoid problems of driving without sunlight, we decided to board the next day and spend the night in that pleasant place.
After breakfast and deflating pressure we start the crossing of the Erg, throughout the day we sail through immense seas of sand dotted with dunes of easy layout that we all overcome without problems, the group is very fluid and comfortable which allows us to advance very quickly and cross the hamada of 70 kms before the great dunes of the Erg, we make the second camp in the Abwari at the end of the large expanse of stones and sand, right next to the large dune that is the beginning of the Erg.
Finally the big day arrives, 15 ridges of large dunes are just behind that great mass of sand more than 100 meters high, we have chosen the most difficult pass of the Abwari and that increases the tension and concentration of all the drivers and co-drivers. Mare has the pleasure of marking the traces of the brutal climb, she achieves it at the first time despite the fact that a section of very soft sand makes the route very difficult. Xavier and Teresa open a new track in a direct and uncompromising ascent to the ridge. With the two passes open, the rest of the group, led by the “Indidimuniets”, climbs the gigantic dune with more or less difficulty, the final result is a great success, since in less than forty minutes all the cars are grouped in the “plateau” that crowns the dune.
After overcoming the first cord of dunes, we stumbled upon a tangle of ruts left by the almost 60 participants of a French raid that several weeks ago passed through there, we were happy that there were not so many cars and that we could enjoy our own track without having to step on such a marked and soft sand. We follow waypoints to overcome the next dunes, but the behavior of the group is so good, that we decide to complicate the route even more by opening new routes in most of the remaining ridges.
Without realizing it, the great and difficult seas of dunes of the Abwari, have been overcome by all the participants with hardly any “meet-ups”, the route has been great and the satisfaction of the group is so great, that the Organization proposes a change of itinerary that will take us to discover one of the most beautiful and unknown places in Libya. the Libyan Tassili N’Ajjer, the Plateau de Maghidet, right on the border with Algeria.
Second Stage: MAGHIDET – GHAT – AKAKUS
Guided by the great Lamine, our guide, we begin to cross tenerés and seas of sand towards the southwest, at 4 in the afternoon we reach the magical place that dazzles everyone for its uniqueness, spectacularity and exceptional beauty, we admire the sunset and sleep accompanied by stone formations that make our imagination fly, remembering figures of animals or shapes of indescribable geometry. Without a doubt, Territori 4×4 should repeat this camp in Maghidet in successive raids to Libya.
The following dawn, enveloped by the magic and cold of the place, although we are almost 1000 meters above sea level, makes us have a copious and caloric breakfast, to be able to face the stage to Ghat, capital of the Tuaregs and declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. You eat at a local restaurant.
Our friends and colleagues from Madrid with their Galloper without rear shock absorber decide that they cannot cross the Murzuq, the Organization proposes that they do the Akakus on their own with the collaboration of a Tuareg guide. The rest of the group begins a night navigation stage until they reach the Finger of God, Adad, where they camp.
The day in Akakus dawns gray and rainy, which slightly diminishes the spectacular beauty of this World Heritage National Park. We visit several prehistoric sites with cave paintings and the well-known rock formations of the elephant’s foot. The culmination is the incredible and great Arch of Akakus, where we meet again with Antonio and Montse who have managed to arrive, despite their battered suspension, hugs and joy, a lot of joy, for the unexpected reunion.
After spending the night in the camp, the participants of another car decide not to venture into the Murzuq, as physical discomfort makes it advisable to do so. In this way the two cars will continue on the Akakus with the native guide throughout the day and we will meet again, “in shalah”, three days later near Jerma.
Third stage: COL D’ANAI – ERG MURZUQ
We said goodbye to our four companions and heading southeast, following waypoints, we began the path to the Erg del Murzuq. Parallel to the Algerian border, by rapid Tenerés we reach the military checkpoint, where our Libyan companions carry out the formalities to continue south towards the Col d’Anai, right at the confluence of the borders of Algeria, Libya and Niger.
The burnt car that opens the hard climb to the Col encourages all participants to maintain concentration on the crossing that we are going to make during the next few days.
All the 4x4s climb the sandy ramps of the Anai. Already at the top appear the colossal and feared dunes of Murzuq, nerves make us all hungry again and we decide to go back to have some food, to calm our passion for driving and recreate with our eyes so much beauty and above all, so much sand!
Finally the group restarts its march, a large pot of sand located about 40 kms, puts almost all the participants in difficulty, after a hard struggle with the sand and the slopes, it is successfully overcome that difficult pass.
We continue forward, creating a very technical and complex track, a steep dune with a steep ascent and vertical descent, makes it difficult for some participants to overcome it, right there, an HDJ 80 that has been stuck in the middle of the ridge, is helped to get out of the traffic jam through the not recommended place causing the rescuer Toyota a good scare. A tearful embrace from the two protagonists makes the moment indescribable. Thanks to the fantastic work of the team of mechanics led by Josep Tuxans and after almost five hours of work, the problem was solved and the damaged 4×4 was put into operation. Night has fallen and we decide to camp in that place, we have dinner and collect, so as not to forget, sand from that dune.
With all the participants aware that we were doing a very difficult Murzuq, which sometimes borders on the eXtrem, we decided to reduce the level and follow the initially established waypoints. The route becomes fascinating and the environment where we move extraordinary, sometimes when we crown a high string of dunes we realize the place where we are, an ocean of sand, with thousands and thousands of crowded dunes that surround us for hundreds of kilometers, the Murzuq is one of those places on the planet where one feels small and defenseless, Happy and amazed, passionate and sensitive, it is a place where you can find remains of pottery and arrowheads of its ancient and prehistoric settlers, who took advantage of the water of its lakes to hunt and fish. The Murzuq is undoubtedly one of those places that you have to visit, at least once in your life, it is impressive and overwhelming. It is probably the most shocking encounter a human can have with himself
After 330 kms in the Murzuq, the car of “Manguito” and his co-driver Rafa, who had overcome all the difficulties and breakdowns of the route, who with his old body had reached Burkina, Benin and Togo, and was therefore the most traveled of all the cars that were there, and which was undoubtedly the most pampered of all, he decides without warning, to end his intense and adventurous life in this unique place, with sadness but, with the satisfaction of the duty fulfilled, his owner and friend understands that the Murzuq is the ideal place for his old 4×4 to rest until the inexorable law of the desert sand ends up burying him in it.
We arrive at the village of Murzuq, where we can finally refuel and eat in a civilized place, it has been three very intense days, with great teamwork, in an exceptional and difficult journey, which we all agree to repeat and if possible overcome with another route as fun and exciting as this year’s.
Stage Four: THE LAKES OF THE EASTERN AWBARI
At night we arrived at the Takarkiba Campsite, where we met again with our four companions who much more relaxed and without wasting as much adrenaline as us, were already comfortably located since the night before. We had dinner at the campsite’s restaurant and slept in simple, but comfortable cabins.
In the morning we started the great crossing of the lakes and the oases, 130 kms of large dunes with hair-raising ups and downs that filled all the participants with satisfaction. The first lake has almost no water, the other three are saltwater and are surrounded by gigantic sand dunes, especially Gaboroun, one of the most spectacular landscapes of the trip, due to the exceptional contrast of the dunes and the water between palm trees.
In the afternoon and after a close race with Marc and his Range Rover, we arrived at a beautiful palm grove near Idri, where we camped, had dinner and spent the last night chatting by the fire, this time abundant thanks to the dry leaves and branches of the many palm trees that were there.
The next day, the whole group began to return home, happy, with the illusion and desire to return to this beautiful desert that had given us so many satisfactions and small disappointments. Without a doubt an unforgettable adventure not only for the route, the landscapes, the driving, but for the group, a team of unbeatable people, with a desire to do things and help their colleagues, a group of men and women who rarely meet on a journey as difficult and hard as the one we have made. The group, and only the group, has been to blame for the success of this great trip to Libya 2008.
December 2007
Jordi Tobeña
